Bocchi the Rock!

Bocchi the Rock! is an unserious CGDCT show that is mostly famous for having tricky animated segments that make good twitter memes, and a JUST LIKE ME protagonist! This is Bocchi za rokku! It totally rocks! I've been told many good things about this one: Firstly that its the only anime to get musicians right, and secondly that its the most unique looking anime ever. ALL TIME BABY. i dont like it While other CGDCT usually handle their characters more flippantly to focus on *other* details, Bocchi the Flop expects you to take a cast of cotton-candy-hair colored waifus wholeheartedly. They are really good characters though, with distinct personalities. I know this because its shoved down my throat. Also a really neat detail is all of them have different eye colors, it really makes them stand out. This shows humor is really bad. Many of the jokes don't translate well or at all into English, but even the ones that do aren't funny at all. "I am the tsuchinoko of Shima-Kitazawa" .. wtf does this even mean? You'd have to be lying to think this is funny. You aren't Japanese, and that's okay. Speaking of that scene, it is just completely unintelligible and demonstrates the most annoying aspects of Bocchi's character. How would anyone perceive you as an attention whore? You have no friends anyways, nobody cares about you. The character writing is so bogus. I just want to be real: Bocchi is not just like you. Bocchi is a cute, high school girl with friends and is in a band. She may be a caricature of someone with social anxiety, but she has charisma. She has huge boobs that didn't make it apparently to the anime. She has a dog, a cute little sister and a nice mother and a father who we can't see his eyes because this show is deeply unserious. Imagine that, imagine taking a show seriously when the only non-joke male character in the universe is being censored like he is in some porn to avoid some dissonance of my cute girl utopia. ITS HER FUCKING DAD. Look, I understand the desire to see through your own character flaws by projecting them onto cute anime girls, in that way they don't' seem like flaws anymore, more like cute quirks. But even though I get it, I find it saddening in a way.

HeroAca and Blue Lock? Sorry...I don't do Shonen stuff. Spy x Family? Even though I have a family, I don't fall into that category. Mob Psycho 100? Great conclusion from the manga that's finally translated to the anime, but I'm not all that psychic to begin with. Bleach: Sennen Kessen-hen a.k.a Thousand-Year Blood War? I'll let you have your moment of glory just right behind Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Do It Yourself!!, Yama no Susume? We can be buddies in the same theme, just doing different things! Chainsaw Man? OVERTAKEN and DETHRONED. LIKE A GLORIFIED MIC DROP. The Fall 2022 season has really seen its fair share of past and new juggernaut glories: from Tite Kubo's Bleach's decade-long wait for a triumphant return still being one of the Big 3, to the much-anticipated Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man being studio MAPPA's massively high-profile equivalent to Ufotable's Demon Slayer in terms of story and animation prowess. However, there are certain shows that as humble as they come initially being an afterthought, to then unexpectedly and shockingly take the sweeping crown, those are the shows that we the anime community can call it special to begin with. It's more impressive even, when such a stacked season as this manages to live up to the hype, that it gets overshadowed by the mainstream being a hidden diamond gem in the works. And my friends, that show is mangaka Aki Hamaji's Bocchi the Rock!, easily the most anticipated of CloverWorks's produced shows of the year when the initial teaser trailer dropped to leave a vague message of its 2022 release in December last year, only to leave us hanging in nerve-wrecking-ness until the PV's release just right before the Fall season started rolling. Before I dive deep into this unexpected, hype-deserved acclaim of a masterpiece show that deserves more than being reduced to an excellent adaptation, I feel like I need to clarify something which the anime community has more often than not, got some facts wrong. Despite Bocchi the Rock! being serialized in publishing company Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara magazine (that's where all of the 4-koma manga come from) promoting its CGDCT theme, it is NOT considered as a genre, but rather a SUB-genre of Slice-of-Life, the same as how Isekai is a subgenre of Fantasy. It's actually more of a motif or theme because it uses a set of tropes and archetypes that separate it from other Slice-of-Life shows that makes it distinct, but thanks to the modern anime community that we have these days (and so much so that I'm a victim of it because I REALLY love CGDCT shows, albeit specifically), we sort of treat it as its own unofficial distinct genre: the human fault we call recency bias. And to be clear, Bocchi! the Rock! is not necessarily a CGDCT anime, but rather, a parody of both the CGDCT theme and the SoL genre, since it's given genre of comedy reflects it as such: a culmination of traits already done and perfected by other SoL and CGDCT anime. But still, you can't deny that the show pays an homage to one of the greatest CGDCT anime of all time: the legendary monumental classic and moe-blob phenomenon that is K-On!, serving the same SoL genre for the anime community, both past and present respectively. So figuratively, while we can call Bocchi the Rock! the GOAT CGDCT of the modern day, as a collective whole, I feel that there're better CGDCT shows than this: say this season's Do It Yourself!!, and while not quite moe-blob as one trait that defined SoL, is still very enjoyable. CGDCT fans are really eating REAL GOOD in 2022, especially considering that it's CloverWorks leading the charge, from the likes of Winter's Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku a.k.a Akebi's Sailor Uniform that unfortunately had the confirmation bias of "animation carried the show" to Spring's Kunoichi Tsubaki no Mune no Uchi a.k.a In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki which turned out decent, along with other returning classics like Machikado Mazoku a.k.a. The Demon Girl Next Door, Yuru Camp△ the Movie (which is arguably the best of the series yet) and Yama no Susume a.k.a Encouragement of Climb. Let's be real: social anxiety IS a thing, and it culminates in the form of Social Anxiety disorder (SAD) a.k.a social phobia, characterized by sentiments of fear and anxiety in social situations, causing considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some aspects of daily life. These fears can be triggered by perceived or actual scrutiny from others. Individuals with social anxiety disorder fear negative evaluations from other people. And this is what exactly happens to a certain pink-haired Hitori "Bocchi" Gotoh trying her best not to shit herself socially, but from the outset, her growing-up life has been met with nothing but insecurities: from the lone effort of making friends to being a ghostly outcast in school, so much so that she becomes a closed closet Hikikomori a.k.a acute social withdrawal, referring to both the phenomenon in general and the recluses themselves: described as loners or "modern-day hermits", regarding themsleves as being totally withdrawn from society and seeking extreme degrees of social isolation and confinement, which in the real-life context of Japan, is a seriously grave issue, especially if you have seen Spring 2019's Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, being the show with the most acute similarity. To counteract from being a Hikikomori, Hitori engages in the online spectrum hoping to find friends there in the veins of YouTube being the illusive ever-so-slightly-named alias "guitarhero" that amasses a respectable subscriber fanbase for her guitar plays that are uploaded every once so often to satisate her followers. That is, until Hitori steps out into the real world where and she is submitted to the harshness of reality slapping her face in both directions, as much as she herself wants to get out of this rut and at least make a life-changing decision for herself. That decision comes in the form of a person: the blonde-haired Nijika Ijichi, who saw Bocchi juat lazing with her guitar and without words of explanation, forcefully dragged her to the underground livehouse that is STARRY as a last-minute replacement for the guitarist that abruptly left the group before their performance. And together with Nijika and the blue-haired bassist bandmate Ryo Yamada, the performance might have been a total wrecking ball of a complete poor failure, and at the very least Hitori knows that both are fans of her "guitarhero" YouTube persona, but with her social anxiety preventing any further conversation and ultimately withdrawing into the same recluse as she was before. Sure, Hitori might've gained her "Bocchi" nickname not because it rhymes with the "hitoribocchi" a.k.a All Alone pun, but it's a sign that at least acknowledged her presence more than anything. This is further cemented with Ikuyo Kita, the vocalist-cum-guitarist and initally Bocchi's classmate, when the latter requests her help to improve on her guitar playing skills, and the deal is struck since the former has an overwhelming infatuation on Ryo. Thereby, which was learnt later that Kita was the one that Nijika had Bocchi hurriedly filled in at the very last minute because she was not being honest with her feelings and fled the "crime scene" after the realization that Kita's guitar playing was not up to snuff. Together, the 4 girls make up Kessoku (lit. Zip Tie) Band: the center band of the series, and their endeavours together are a sight to behold, other than the highlight that is Bocchi's exaggerated, over-the-top, visual medium crossovers of her inner thoughts exemplified at the highest, most extreme degrees of insanity that exudes overflowing creativity of nonchalant acerbity that's some one-of-a-kind talent that you don't normally see in AniManga, let alone the manga chapters that if you read alongside the anime, each and every chapter title page paying homage to famous bands and their songs' music video. A…

ANIME OF THE SEASON, if not THE YEAR. Words cannot express how much this show has grown into me. Like Hitori "Bocchi" Gotou is literally the most relatable character FR FR. I'm guessing you have heard of the show by now, whether through memes, screenshots, recommendations from others, or simply by chance while looking for shows to watch. With that said, what makes this show stand out from the crowd is its sudden surge in popularity, whether you like it or not? Point 1: Bocchi is literally me. (Insert Literally Me copypasta) I'm sure you're wondering who Bocchi is and what makes her so special and unique that she stands out from the crowd. First and foremost, she is someone who suffers from social anxiety, as evidenced by her inability to make a single friend throughout her youth until one fateful day. Her internal monologues are hilarious to watch and allow us to get a better understanding of Bocchi's world, thoughts, and so on. Everything about her just seems relatable. Oh, and don't forget how well the VAs are portraying the characters they are assigned to, particularly Bocchi, as I'll explain in my next point. Point 2: Excellent quality sounds and superb voice acting. Sound quality can't really go wrong as this is a music show. The title "Bocchi the Rock!" implies that some of their songs incorporate some form of rock, which they did. Returning to the point, the show's OP is extremely addictive, with its rhythmic beat complementing the vibe and mood of the show. The accompanying visual is also remarkably good and entertaining to watch, fitting in with the overall tone of the show. The EDs have their own unique charm. The visuals don't have to be flashy as long as they complement the music well. Their songs are the real bangers here, fitting for their band and the title of the show. Basically, if you like rock or music in general, you'll love them. As for the VAs, I'd like to reiterate on how well they did their job, most especially that of Bocchi's VA. The transition from one mood to another was well done from one scene to the next, demonstrating how invested these VAs are in how they express the characters they play. One example is the supposed "Cyberpunk 2077" meme scene in which Bocchi is seen lying on the ground undergoing "cyberpsychosis" and screaming at the top of her lungs. One would think that the sound in this scene would be generated by a computer since it would be very taxing on someone's larynx or voice box, especially someone who spends countless hours doing voice-overs in presenting a character, but it was entirely voiced by Bocchi's VA, echoing my thoughts on how dedicated these VAs are. Not to mention that they are accompanied by eye-catching and unique visuals, which brings me to my next point. Point 3: Art is visually appealing and distinct, with a good blend of different art styles. (CloverWorks never fails to impress in this regard.) Art styles and animation, which are normally a source of complaint to viewers on a different themed or genre show, are a source of praise in this show. The animators' humor includes art style changes and mixed media, which highlights their creativity. CloverWorks did an excellent job of improving the overall viewer experience. One example of this again is the "Cyberpunk 2077" meme scene, in which the usual art style was shifted to a 2D paint-like style, which was praised by many viewers for its distinct and unexpected turn of events. This is one of many scenes where the randomness really adds extra spice; the animators did a very good job animating the show. Point 4: It is appropriate for all audiences, regardless of whether you are a Slice of Life CGDCT fan or not. The premise is actually quite simple, as with almost any other SoL CGDCT show. This show is simply about Bocchi's desire to make friends and make the most of her "seishun" or youth, which is why she began playing guitar in the first place. She was invited to join Kessoku Band after a chance encounter, and that's where it all started. It is nothing out of the ordinary, but it is surprisingly entertaining to watch, and you can't help but want more. Even after only watching one episode, I sensed something special about this show. The show is intended to be wholesome, family-friendly, and heartwarming, with no "deep" plot. It is directed for us to reminisce about our "seishun" days, and it did a good job of portraying the themes that the show is aimed to portray. As evidenced by the Kessoku Band and their excellent group dynamic, the characters each have their own personality and complement one another extremely well. Even the supporting characters are memorable and well-written, and you can't help but be drawn to them. There is never a dull moment in this show. *Also, I'd like to point out that the names of the main cast have meaning / purpose, with their last name referencing Asian Kung-Fu Generation. There are other real-life Japanese band references, but this is just one of many. Another interesting fact is that Hitori (one person) has one small strand of hair sticking out of her head, whereas Futari (two people) has two small strands of hair sticking out of her head. Everything in Bocchi the Rock! is well-thought-out, and there isn't much to complain about. If you're reading this and haven't watched the show yet, I strongly urge you to do so as soon as possible. It is one of your turn off your brain shows that you can watch whenever you want. And for those who have finished watching or are currently watching the show, I'm sure you feel the same way I do. My only gripe is that no sequel has been announced. Despite a stacked lineup this season, Bocchi the Rock! did not fall short of standing out from the crowd.

Bocchi the Rock fails at being both a good SoL and a good show about musicians. If you're coming to this show looking for one of those aspects (or both) then leave as I assure you there's plenty better than Bocchi, you can even stop reading here if you want. If you've already watched it or just want to see my reasoning then feel free to read on. Plot: Bocchi is a Slice of Life/Coming of age story about a girl who learns to overcome her shyness by playing her guitar. That might seem like a decent idea but that might as well be as deep as it gets as that's Bocchi's entire personality. She plays the guitar 6 hours a day because she wants to be famous and that's somehow the easiest way for her to become sociable/earn friends. Not only is that logic asinine but it's an incredibly shallow means of friendship to yearn for. It's also just bizarre how this laid back SoL/Moe tries to give some almost shonen-esque "I want to be the very best" goal for our MC. You can't even try and argue that the show doesn't pigeonhole itself to one genre as it very much does. Bocchi: Bocchi's portrayal of social anxiety is a joke and feels like the author just looked at memes on social media about how hard it is being an introvert and took it at face value. She automatically goes into spastic outbursts whenever confronted by anyone to the point to where it's a miracle that her friends keep her around given how uncooperative she is even with them. If Bocchi did exist in real life she wouldn't have any friends, but this show seems to favor Bocchi in a way that many self-insert anime do. Bocchi can never do anything wrong, she's always just a poor misunderstood musical genius and you have to bear with the fact that she shuts down like a damn computer at the mere thought of making eye contact with someone. Realistically Bocchi doesn't face any real trouble. Characters: The rest of the cast is as boring as it gets. We've got Ryo who was somewhat enjoyable at times but just a dick to everyone else for the most part. The Redhead who's the foil of Bocchi, and by that I mean while Bocchi's entire personality is being an introvert, her entire personality is being an extrovert and nothing more. The Blonde I don't even remember what her personality was or at least I don't even know if I could describe it. The main four feel so archetypal and boring that I can't really say anything more. A good SoL can take these character archetypes and make them feel very naturally fitting, Houkago Teibou Nisshi for example does a really good job at this. All the other side characters are again just reduced to one trait. Another thing I find bizarre is how Bocchi's father in particular has his eyes censored out. I see that this trope seems to happen a good deal in a lot of newer Moe shit where they seem almost scared to even show a male character on the screen for some reason. I'm not saying that your primarily female cast show needs many male characters in it or anything but it's frankly weird when they go to lengths such as that. Art: I'll Segway from characters to character design for art, as it makes a good enough bridge. I think the character design is unimaginative and ugly. There is no balance as all the bright colored Power Rangers tastelessly leap in front of your face. I'm fine with bright colors after all this is anime we're talking about but please give good balance in relation to the characters they'll be around with throughout the show. Hidamari for example does a good job at this. One thing I'll give Bocchi is that it's production is great. The weird animation sequences are neat and all but I think they were mostly made as internet bait, made with the intent get clips posted on the internet of how memeable this "Literally me" show is and so you can have at it with your twitter/discord reaction images. Not only that but the wacky animated segments are without fail always used on the same joke where Bocchi is in one of her free-form-freakouts over having to talk to a person or whatever. The music is alright I guess, none of the songs ever stuck out to me. The one thing that did irk me in particular is that when Bocchi and her friends go to the psychedelic rock concert it didn't sound very psychedelic at all, just typical J-Rock. Maybe that's my own issue for expecting Hendrix or the Flaming Lips but it is what it is. BOTTOM LINE: Bocchi fails on all fronts that it tries to venture into and fails at nearly all of the basic fronts that a story/anime should be expected to meet. Funnily enough I went into this series thinking "wow it's going to be like K-On but they actually focus on being in a band" but I ended up appreciating K-On more, not only for having enjoyable characters but also for having better songs despite not nearly as much being about the music. And remember kids, your show is only so highly rated and popular because it meets a denominator so low and innocuous that it's serviceable for almost anyone. McDonalds may make the most dollaroos but it's miles away from being even close to the best food I've ever had.

Show is completely overhyped. Is the only appeal of this show the supposed 'relatability' of this pathetic main character? Is that seriously the sole merit of this show? Bocchi fails to function at the bare minimum of existing in society and that is somehow supposed to justify this pitiful plot. Nothing of any note worth mentioning happens in the show. The characters other than Bocchi don't have anything interesting going on in their lives, no backstory, no motivation or interest. Actual cardboard cutouts. Who can relate to this character? Bocchi literally has 0 friends, unable to exist with other humans and can not even stand upright when in the presence of another person. By some god given miracle some extrovert picked her out of the blue one day and forced her to develop the social skills she severely lacked. This doesn't happen in real life by the way. Don't be delusional. This show has zero content. There is no hook, no mystery, no story, absolutely nothing to keep the audience engaged except for the sheer disbelief that this character can't possibly be this pathetic forever. I only continued watching this show because I was delusional and kept telling myself, "I mean, it was rated so highly, surely there is a big payoff right?". No there really isn't! Completely surreal.

At the end of the first episode of *Bocchi the Rock!*, Kessoku Band has more or less bombed their first performance. Bocchi (née Gotou Hitori), who had been ready to announce her presence to the world as Kessoku Band’s last-minute fill-in guitarist, anxiously retreated into a mango box, hidden within it as the band lurches and stumbles their way through their music. But in the aftermath as her bandmates Nijika and Ryou remark on the atrociousness they just played, Bocchi throws the box off herself and stumbles her way down frame in a fish-eye lens style camera shot. She stands before the two and declares that she’ll muster the courage to talk to her classmates, which Nijika smiles at…and then Bocchi immediately heads out since she’s drained her socially anxious battery for the day, but still resolving to improve herself for their sakes. If any scene could encapsulate what makes *Bocchi the Rock!* such a creatively-rich series, it’s this. This whole sequence is but the tip of the show’s iceberg. There is a chaotic beauty in the show’s reckless abandon, able to radically swing between whatever style it chooses to adopt at any given moment. And within it all, anxiety is presented as both comedic fuel and as a sincere obstacle towards one’s sense of personal development. But perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s step back for a minute: headed by Saitou Keiichirou in the director’s chair, he was afforded the rare opportunity to more or less have any ideas that came to him be given the green light to work their way into the material itself. From a certain perspective, he was the perfect mind to entrust with such freedoms – with small involvement on *Heike Monogatari* and *Wonder Egg Priority* as a key animator, along with several larger credits for *Sonny Boy,* his 2021 was spent with some of the medium’s most artistically-interesting properties. Though each had its own distinctly visual-acoustic identity, the one thread that unifies all these projects is risk. Considering *Bocchi the Rock!’s* origin as a four-panel manga, he must have realized that great risks would need to be taken to make this project work in anime format. And it starts with taking the generally-understood limitations of anime and throwing them away, both from the actual animation and the storyboarding standpoint. The show has visual styles aplenty, including the incorporation of live-action sequences, photographs, and deliberately-bad CGI. Evidently, the animators were given such a sandbox to play in that Christmas seemed to come a few months early. The impact of such an idea is that it creates a sense of unpredictability, that the series could reach into a metaphorical bag of tricks to pull out something new, seemingly at random. Whether it rest in stark colors or allowing the camera to step back and allow the depth of space to fill the frame, the off-kilter presentation itself becomes a feature of the viewing experience. But a chaotic presentation is simply directionless and eye-candy without something to properly anchor it all. In *Bocchi the Rock!,* there is no greater person to serve that purpose that the titular Bocchi herself, as we’re brought into the lonelier world she resides in. Even if it can be said that she goes to class and spends a little time with her family, her realm is a small space in the corner of her house, a dark closet home only to her and the small recording equipment and software she has for her YouTube audience under the “guitarhero” moniker. All her aspirations to make friends and become more popular through her guitar playing have hit the impregnable wall of social anxiety she shoulders. As she takes her first steps into the larger world and she dwells on her anxious flights, many are tinged with an underlying dark comedy that punctuates itself with the visual styling. Stark colors, postcard memories-esque stillshots (Dezaki would be proud), and highly-expressive deliveries from Bocchi’s seiyuu Aoyama Yoshino make these moments land with hilarity, be they disbelieving shrieks or quiet laconicism. Let us not kid ourselves, though; on the immediate surface, this treatment of anxiety appears distasteful. Anxiety is indeed a real problem for some people that, even now, we sometimes do not do the best job of properly navigating as either a conceptual issue or something being experienced in real-time. It’s by far the material’s greatest gamble, and a fumbling at any point may catastrophically collapse the entirety. However, Keiichirou takes great underlying care in how these moments are portrayed. Bocchi is always presented in a sympathetic light; when we laugh at an episode’s joke at her expense or see her wild catastrophizing, there always is a proper counter to any possible maliciousness or sleight, which ironically makes laughter one of the show’s primary vehicles for forming sympathy. The intended path for every gag or event that takes place throughout the series has always been to allow Bocchi’s world to gradually get bigger and more confident, even if her social tendencies or way of seeing doesn’t get remedied right away. But remedy herself she gradually does, and with the show’s brand of delightfully-chaotic tone, it should come as no surprise that the people who help her on her personal journey are themselves part of a motley crew. Roped into performing at Starry Club with the exaggerative Ryou and the cheerful Nijika, and eventually joined by the bubbly and highly-encouraging Kita, Bocchi is thrust into the deep end of social interaction. She got her wish to be in a band and interact more, but she’s now part of an active group that all have a prior history. Bocchi is the oddball out, especially given that the other three girls have their own personal histories with one another. Yet it doesn’t matter whether their reasons for being in Kessoku Band are, be they for sentimentality or for pettiness. By every weird measure, the reality is that they came together in the here-and-now, and Bocchi is among them. Each member realizes in their own way that Bocchi needs encouragement of some sort, and all are given an appropriate spotlight to show not only how much Bocchi’s presence in the band is valued, but also that Bocchi herself can overcome the various worries that a band must wrestle with, even under the veneer of comedy. The apprehensions are in and of themselves perfectly understandable and relatable. The fear of performing poorly and having everyone watch you, having your band members replace you, needing to sell tickets for a gig, and the like are all thoughts that most people who have been in or teach the arts (particularly music) inherently wrestle with on a consistent basis. Especially since Bocchi has been within the shell of herself and her own anxieties for so long, it makes the triumphs all the more worth striving for and to see pay off in the end. And nowhere else is this captured more eloquently than in the performances. When the moments arrive for Bocchi to step on that stage and play the first chord, we see how, even in the incremental ways she has changed, this is not the same Bocchi that we witnessed initially. Similarly, this is not the same Kessoku Band that we first saw that played so poorly. Bocchi has grown, and this is a band that has also grown. Both in and outside of practice, they worked and bonded in tandem. Each has evolved beyond the confines of what they once were, even if the gradual changes undergone don’t completely rewrite who they are now. But with these changes nevertheless visible, one cannot help but smile and want to stand in the crowd with the others, bouncing along or turning the gaze upward to the girl who has started to come into her own. Beneath all its style, verve, comedy, anxiety-laden dread, and rockin’ music, *Bocchi the Rock!* is ultimately sweet. Life-affirming and charming, it demonstrates the ability for a skilled director to walk the fine line between having anxiety as a comedic devic…

BtR! is a CGDCT anime that has a little bit of a different focus. While these series usually have a specific character who gets more emphasis than the rest, it's not uncommon for the authors to deprioritize our main squeeze in favor of the group, and the stories are largely carefree and relatively plotless. I guess if you were to look to literature, most of these stories would roughly fall under third-person objective as a narrative style. Most of the information conveyed is through character action and dialogue, and it's rare to be subjected to internal monologues at length; in contrast, BtR!—aside from occasional observations from the other three characters, when Bocchi spaces-out—would most likely be an intensely personal first-person story, reading like a locked diary with embarrassing secrets tucked away. We're constantly inside of Bocchi's head, being exposed to bizarre daydreams and hyperbolic tangents that sometimes spill out for the public and her friends to witness. First-person narrators are often unreliable narrators, and you can expect a person with extreme social anxiety like Bocchi to be about as unreliable as you can get, for when the behavior is so pronounced, there's a tendency to overthink about... well, everything, especially if it pertains to social interactions. It leads to a lot of mental stimulation that can be overwhelming, which is presented pretty well in the scene where Bocchi plays guitar and sings to memorize basic things most people would just remember without trying—or if they didn't, they wouldn't worry about it so much. There are a lot of aspects to the depiction of social anxiety that are pretty accurate, but it's often heavily exaggerated for comedy, and Bocchi has developed a number of eccentricities and general weirdness that goes beyond mere social anxiety, though these tendencies may have been cultivated due to her isolation. Like, the doggie role-play moment was a tad gross. While comparisons to K-On! are common because BtR! has a similar skittles-colored high school girl moeblob quadruplet starting a band setup, the hyper-focused navel-gazey themes of self-improvement, and the social anxiety-based and self-deprecating comedy are far removed from the fluffy and light "I'm going to eat the last slice of cake and not get fat" tone of K-On!. However, the comparison is a little more serviceable if you lump in a little Tatami Galaxy for its milder anxieties, frequent first-person monologues, and imaginative segues. Just crank up the social anxiety to 11. Everything begins and ends with Bocchi. It's all about Bocchi. Let's all love Bocchi! The other girls are a little thin in comparison and are mostly there to serve as fiddles and foils for Bocchi to bounce off of and to fulfill her need for friends. Most of what we learn about Bocchi is through her perception of the world or a visual gag—often imagined—and she accounts for most of the humor. Comedy may be subjective, but the nature of the humor here is highly repetitive, and while mining the many layers of social anxiety for humor is not uncommon in anime, I've rarely seen one milk the cow dry to this extent, leading to a few segments becoming predictable and flatter than Bocchi's face after that creepy sandpaper scene that I don't understand and want to forget. I'm often not convinced the timing is optimal at various points, but the series is decently humorous and more creative than most anime billed as comedy. The greatest asset to the humor and what makes BtR! a lot better than it would otherwise be are the production values (reception to the manga has been more lukewarm from what I've seen) and the strong character acting. The latter is fine for most of the girls, with probably Nijika receiving some of the better moments, but the animators are quite a bit more inventive with how they handle Bocchi. She'll get more wobbly and moeblobby than usual and even turn into goop; she'll flop around on the ground like a fish, glitching-out to the point that the characters have to reboot her, and I wouldn't bat an eye if they used a windows reboot sound effect as a joke; she gets her face Mr. Potato-headed and molded into a cubist painting; there are also a lot of stylistic shifts during the daydreams and imaginative sequences, which will occasionally involve experimentation with different mediums, including painting, stop-motion figures, live action, and intentionally dated CGI segments; and so on. In recent memory this is one of the few mainstream anime series that has done anything similar, along with Mob Psycho 100. I need to be clear that I might not have finished the series if not for how well the animation complements everything, which already places this above most CGDCT anime in my mind. The creativity enhances the amusement of the scenes far beyond what I would have expected, even when I don't find it to be overly funny. The other thing is how embarrassing—or cringe, as has often been said—a lot of the scenes are meant to be, which is a double-edged sword. Yes, you can have the characters behave in a way that is so disgustingly gross that even the viewers feel the need to take a shower and scrub until the skin is raw, and this factor can work for humor; or, as an alternative, the authors can present the character as inept, leaving room for self-improvement. Bocchi kind of grapples between the two. She makes a constant show of how much she values her friends, behaving in a ridiculous way that only someone who is naive and has thus far been fully deprived of friendship would behave. The embarrassment I feel for Bocchi snowballs into absolute disgust on numerous occasions, and sometimes, it's just a bit much. Is Bocchi not only a rock, but did she also live under one? Does something ever become so exaggerated that it just feels forced? Episode 7 being a perfect example, as Bocchi really overdoes everything and has that dumb costume on, and these scenes drag on to no end with unadulterated slow-burn cringe. She truly soars through the heavens on a rollercoaster of cringe, and I can only hope her ride will terminate into a cannon, and she'll be shot into an active volcano (this is actually in the spirit of the show). It's not a very humorous episode, and it doesn't appear the intent was to promote character growth. The episode was not only cringe, but it was practically throw-away cringe. If you gaze for long into cringe, the cringe gazes also into you. Most of Bocchi's character growth pertains to her becoming a bit more confident playing as part of a band, such as with episodes 6 and 8, leading up to a final performance with a larger audience—as is typical of these kind of stories. She'll improve little by little with other activities, but they keep it slow and with a number of "relapses." I find it hard to be anything but indifferent to Bocchi as a character, as I feel like her personality isn't a whole lot more than a hyper-condensed version of moe social anxiety—which would probably be fine, but we're forced to guzzle so much of it so fast and with so little deviation for 12 whole episodes that I feel like I'm as drunk on social anxiety as the series' alcoholic is on booze. The unique presentation of a very familiar subject makes this more compelling than most portrayals of social anxiety—probably also more charming, due to its visual humor, lighthearted nature, and moeblobber aesthetic, etc. However, in the end, it's just Bocchi taking another metaphorical step up her never-ending daydream staircase toward being a teensy bit more confident. As for the music, I'll start with Ryou's bit to Bocchi on being yourself and not self-censoring with summertime happy-go-lucky lyrics, when that's not what represents you, and having the integrity to not sell out. Listen, you ice-cold weed wacker, you might have left your old band because they were too sell-out for you, but you're just a little less of a sell-out with your generic j-pop/rock guitar/drum/bass high sc…

[I'd be happy to know if Bocchi the Rock changed one's life, have motivated someone, etc. Personally, I didn't enjoy the anime and you can't change my opinion just as I'm unable to change yours.] After reading a fairly well-written review by KANLen09-san, browsing related memes and listening to the Seishun Complex (without knowing it is an opening song), I have decided to let the hype flow through me... and what a huge mistake that was. I won't waste my time to rewrite things mentioned in the synopsis, so... Bocchi the Rock is a show about a teenage girl named Hitori Gotou. Apparently, she has been all alone her entire life. She has never had friends until the beginning of the plot. She has social anxiety. Being a wonderful guitarist, she is quite gifted, although this talent of her is only known and appreciated online. Many introvert viewers might find these character stats incredibly relatable. But... Is this girl really hapless? Sorry to disappoint you, but Hitori Gotou is no more than a comic relief of a main character. Her personality is in the pun which is her name. She is nothing like you. Her life is not considered miserable by real-life standards. She has both parents who love her, a sister; her family is not poor; she is popular on YouTube; she is not bullied; she gets a job; she joins a band; she gets friends; she is not considered unattractive (unlike, for example, Tomoko Kuroki). Her social anxiety is over the top and neither funny nor relatable. Also, it is unrealistic. I mention it because Bocchi the Rock tries to be serious, even though it is a comedy. Other characters are pretty generic. There are Ryo the loner-by-choice, Kita the yuri bait who can't play, and Nijika the extravert who can do drums. They all have the same goal, the same dream. Secondary characters are plainly unfunny and uncharismatic. There is a drunkard woman, a member of an indie band, and the jokes regarding her are all predictably related to the alcohol. That's... pretty much it, and the fact of such flat characterisation is sad. On top of that, Bocchi the Rock is supposed to be motivational, because its focus is personal growth and reaching success. As I mentioned before, it tries to be deep, although it's extremely difficult to take it seriously. The problem is, this show offers basic problems and occasionally throws 'deep' lines that magically help characters (especially Gotou) overcome obstacles they run into. Yes, words do matter a lot in real life, but don't exaggerate their impact to that extent. However, with mediocre character development, the anime's deepness factor is questionable. Bocchi the Rock has nearly no substance. It doesn't have much to offer, and what it offers is repetitive things which are not unique to it. Trying into realism, Bocchi fails to demonstrate how to properly grow as a functioning member of society. Of course, this anime is not a piece of garbage. Even though characters are generic, they are not loathsome and their designs are cute and well-made. Besides, the anime is animated on a decent level. Also, the voice acting and the soundtrack ROCK (lol). Opening song is simply outstanding. But that's there the advantages end. Bocchi the Rock is a typical show which has been produced on the anime factory of CloverWorks. Its comedy is boring. There are plenty CGDCT shows which are funnier, even across those related to music. Its deepness is paradoxically low. There are shows in which themes like social anxiety and others are held much better, with responsibility and with soul. Unfortunately, I have failed to see why this anime deserves praise. I don't hate it, but sometimes it's depressing to see how plastic the industry has become. That is why CloverWorks is not a studio. It is a factory. Plot: 2 (incredibly uninspired) Characters: 3 (were made for the sake of cuteness, but are a bit charming) Animation: 7 (objectively good yet not impressive) Sound: 8 (catchy soundtrack and top-notch voice acting) Enjoyment: 4 (disappointing) Overall: 3. Thank you for reading my review!

Bocchi the Rock is the latest in the neverending stream of cute girls doing cute things show that come out each season. When people cry over how repetitive the anime industry has gotten, the main culprit everyone points to always happens to be isekai, yet slice-of-life comedy shows like Bocchi the Rock have stuck to the same formulaic and repetitive storyline and main cast for the better part of the last decade or two, with, most of the time, nothing but praise coming their way. Yet, once again, BTR is said to be a breath of fresh air for the industry, promising a deep and meaningful characterization of the main protagonist and cute girl in question - Bocchi. I don't often watch anime, but when I do, I watch lots of it. When I found myself once again scrolling through the MyAnimeList top anime section for the first time in what felt like ages, there stood Bocchi the Rock, firmly cemented at #23, to me, a magical number; Last time I went through the usual cycle - don't watch anime for 6 months, come back and binge watch 20 shows in a week - I found a very special show called Link Click at the #23 mark, which caught my attention and turned out to be one of the best shows I've ever watched. I thought to myself that this must be fate, and that this, too, will become a classic that stands the test of time and proves to be groundbreakingly innovative in the stale anime industry - however far that compliment goes. Unfortunately, I stand corrected. Bocchi the Rock is not exactly seasonal garbage, in fact it is unique in its ability to lead on the viewer and garner the sympathy of the average anime watcher despite being of little substance. One of the main points of appeal of this show, is, of course, the relatability of Bocchi's character. From that perspective, she is well-written, and her portrayal of social anxiety strikes just the right chords to get the viewer to care and relate to her. Of course, if you can't empathize with a socially anxious person, much of the comedy falls flat - but despite BTR being a comedy show, that surprisingly doesn't really take away from its overall enjoyability. For starters, the production of the show is immaculate - sure, the level of smoothness a blockbuster shounen like attack on titan sees isn't really present, but the direction is top notch, and the creativity levels are there, from the wacky facial expressions to the shots of real-life action that are very tastefully strung into the artwork - and to that end, I applaud Bocchi the rock. As far as slice-of-life shows go, it's presented beautifully, and the passion the animators and director had for the project is tangible - not entirely unexpected work from Keiichirou Saitou, who worked on shows like Sonny Boy, Mob Psycho and Wonder Egg Priority in recent memory, all deeply charismatic and atmospheric in their own ways. The cast, although not much more than the sum of its parts, is quite charming; and cute! Which, as you might guess, is kind of important for a cute girls doing cute things anime - and cute things, they are doing as well, playing some kick-ass music, which, once again, I have to give credit to. Both the opening and ending sequences are spectacular, and the OSTs are even better; the first track the girls write in the show, entitled "Guitar, Loneliness and Blue Planet", is, as far as J-Rock goes, one of the best songs I've ever heard in anime. But this isn't a music review. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I have a very strong dislike for shows like Re:Zero and Koe no Katachi, which despite being wildly different in almost every aspect of their conception, share one thing in common - apart from their incredible commercial success - in the way that they emotionally manipulate and string along the viewer into caring for shallow, cheaply written characters. For Subaru's Re:Zero, that's in the form of killing off the entire (incredibly obnoxious) main cast in increasingly gruesome and brutal ways to little purpose other than shocking the viewer into tears. For Koe no Katachi, it's using Nishimiya's entire character as a glorified cardboard cutout to plaster a disability onto and get the audience to cry over it, which is a lot more evocative of what BTR attempts to do with Bocchi's social anxiety. It's cheap writing and emotionally exploitative. Although Bocchi the Rock doesn't abuse this trick to the same extent as the anime I previously mentioned, it doesn't mean it's in good taste, either. Crippling social anxiety that impairs someone from even the most basic human functions, is, more or less, the running gag of the show, which sure, fine, it's a comedy, and I'm a strong believer in being able to make jokes about anything and everything, but there's two issues I still have with it. Obviously, this is a cute girls doing cute things comedy, so I can't bring myself to do a psychological analysis of Bocchi; that's just as in bad taste as the show itself and entirely missing the point. Still, social anxiety is a mental health issue that has a root cause - abusive household, severe bullying, lack of human interaction, poor upbringing, a track record of being constantly mercilessly rejected, or whatever else you might think up. Yet Bocchi lives in a nice big house in a nice neighbourhood, she has a nice little sister and two supportive, able-bodied parents, was never bullied (or at least, the show never mentioned it), and just in general is a really cute anime girl who plays guitar and runs a youtube channel in her spare time, so really, her character is reduced to little more than a device to get the audience to think "she just like me fr" instead of a genuine, real, believable human being with feelings and motivations beyond what the writers tell us her feelings are. Although the show narrates mostly from the view of Bocchi, making all encounters into a deeply intimate experience, she remains shallow, written solely to make the audience empathize with her because of her situation, instead of her character. But again, analyzing Bocchi is senseless since this is a comedy, not a drama, so I can't discredit it for using a character as a running gag - it's something many other superb comedy shows do regularly. Still, AS a comedy, BTR entirely misses the mark, simply because its jokes aren't that funny. To some people, they're very relatable situations, and therefore mildly funny, but to the viewer without social anxiety, who can't empathize with Bocchi, every. single. damn. joke. falls flat in its face. Its comedy is entirely reliant on getting the viewer to sympathize and relate to Bocchi, which brings me back to how her "she just like me fr fr!" writing is cheap, and to how distasteful it is to use mental health issues as a device to sell jokes for the entire runtime of the show. This feels like a great time to mention a show I've recently watched - Hinamatsuri. Hinamatsuri is a comedy show, yes, and it has a side character called Anzu. Without spoiling too much, Anzu's character approaches a pretty serious theme - homelessness, yet never does the show try to make you cry just because oh, poor Anzu she's homeless, nor does it tastelessly poke fun at homeless people. Homelessness isn’t exactly something relatable to most people, it's a topic that's not as easily exploitable as social anxiety, so the writers turn Anzu into more than a social anxiety bag or a disabled damsel-in-distress (cough, koe no katachi, cough) through believable characterization and a great story arc. Quickly going through the plot, Anzu has great magical powers and has come to Earth to fight the titular protagonist, Hina. She is introduced as impulsive, aggressive, and unrelenting in her egocentrism. She fails to beat Hina, and also finds out she’s unable to return to the world she came from; Now stuck on earth, she steals to get by until she meets a homeless guy who teaches him that’s wrong, and Anzu …

Probably one of the most overpraised shows in recent times. As someone who struggled with social anxiety and loved K-ON! when I was younger, I thought this would be right up my alley, but I was left disappointed. Its biggest problem is that it’s not very funny. The four girls seem to keep each other at an arm’s length, or at least farther away than in other similar shows. While this makes their relationship more realistic (considering most of them just met), the characters simply don’t have the chemistry that you’ve come to expect from other moe comedies. After a few episodes, the show runs out of steam and starts to repeat gags, most of which weren’t good to begin with. Another problem is that it focuses too much on the title character, leaving the other three main girls with little to no development. This could pay off once they make more seasons, but after 12 episodes I don’t feel like I know much about the characters, and thus I don’t have much of a reason to care for them. While Ryo was occasionally funny, Nijika and Kita were extremely bland and one-dimensional, and the two didn't serve much purpose aside from being nice to Hitori. So, if it’s not funny, surely the other elements of the anime will carry it? Not really. The depiction of social anxiety had potential, but it’s mostly played for laughs and the stakes are always low anyway. I even thought the humor was mean-spirited at times. Regardless, the show never says anything meaningful; it sure seems to try, but it’s all very superficial. I think CloverWorks took too many liberties here, because the manga is better paced and also funnier sometimes. It would have been better if they stuck closer to the regular 4koma adaptation format. Generic doesn’t always mean bad. The only element deserving of praise is the presentation. The realistic backgrounds clash with the characters most of the time, but there's no denying that this is a high-effort production, and a very creative one too. Hitori’s breakdowns and facial expressions were a highlight, and the animation during the musical performances was great, with better and subtler CGI than the average music anime. Audio-wise, the opening is a banger, and the insert songs and endings were generally good. The seiyuu also performed flawlessly, not much else to say about it. Bocchi the Rock! bites more than it can chew. Everything it attempts has been done better by a million other shows. These “jack of all trades” anime tend to have a wide appeal, so I’m not surprised it became this popular; plus, colorful characters like the main four girls are very marketable, regardless if they’re interesting or not. On a more positive (and side) note, I enjoyed the album “kessoku band” more than the anime itself. Their cover of “Rockn' Roll, Morning Light Falls on You” is fantastic, and the whole thing is an easy listen. I recommend it to any J-Rock fan! While I have no interest in watching a second season of this, I look forward to the next album.

I'm gonna be honest and brief on this one I don't get the appeal. This anime lost me on the second ep but I kept going because of the overwhelming amount of people saying that this is the best anime ever. My problem is the main character Bocchi. She she is not an introvert she is severely autistic. Me also being in the spectrum I also relate to her struggle as I was very similar to her when I was young how ever the main issue is that her behavior is beyond exaggerated and almost insulting. She doesn't really try to get better on her own but instead relies on others to fix her problems for her. The supporting cast is only there to make Bocchi do stuff and to compliment on how awesome she is. In real life this the rest of the girls would probably get sick of her just because of her constant freak outs and self sabotaging fits. Overall the show is just not my thing but I understand why people like it.

This is probably an unpopular opinion but I was actually not a fan of this anime. I can objectively acknowledge why people like it, but these types of anime are honestly tough to sit through. Why? Because the main character is supposed to be relatable in that she's a quiet girl who's misunderstood and suffers from severe social anxiety. Buttttt of course... she's actually cute and doesn't realize how likeable she would be. It's tough to watch in that it's relatable but it's not - because the social anxiety part they have correct. But they essentially took WataMote (not the one with all the guys, the social anxiety suffering one) and then clashed it with K-On! to make a sort of "it's the same depressing main character but this one's actually cute, so this character you can actually like!". I really disliked WataMote because the parts of myself that I hate due to the social anxiety is unfortunately really true in that show (so essentially, I disliked it because it's a little bit too relatable), and now to see essentially the same show but they make her that cute, just "misunderstood", makes it feel like "We're trying to be relatable, just not as cringe or gloomy!". It's depressing to watch this show when you have the same personality as the main character because you know how unrealistic it is.

Title: Bocchi the Rock: A Disappointing Musical Experience Rating: 1/10 Bocchi the Rock attempts to offer a unique and innovative musical experience but falls short in almost every aspect. From its lackluster performances to its underwhelming songwriting, this album fails to deliver on its promises and leaves listeners feeling disappointed. One of the biggest issues with Bocchi the Rock is the quality of the musicianship. The instrumental performances lack creativity and precision, often sounding amateurish and poorly executed. The guitar solos, which should be the highlights of the album, are unimpressive and fail to capture any sense of excitement or virtuosity. The overall sound production is also subpar, with muddy mixes and poorly balanced levels that make it difficult to fully appreciate the music. Furthermore, the songwriting on this album is severely lacking. The tracks feel formulaic and predictable, with generic chord progressions and uninspired melodies. The lyrics are equally unimpressive, offering clichéd and shallow themes without any depth or originality. There's a distinct lack of creativity and innovation throughout the album, making it a forgettable and unremarkable listening experience. Another aspect that hampers Bocchi the Rock is the vocals. The lead singer's performance is lackluster, lacking both range and emotion. The delivery feels monotonous and uninspired, failing to captivate or engage the listener. This lack of vocal prowess further diminishes any potential impact the songs might have had. Additionally, the album suffers from a lack of cohesion and direction. It feels like a collection of disjointed tracks rather than a coherent body of work. The transitions between songs are abrupt and jarring, creating an uneven listening experience that further detracts from the album's overall quality. In summary, Bocchi the Rock is a disappointing musical endeavor. From its mediocre musicianship and uninspired songwriting to its lackluster vocals and lack of cohesion, this album fails to deliver any compelling or enjoyable moments. It's an underwhelming and forgettable release that leaves listeners longing for a more engaging musical experience.

[Originally posted on December 27th, 2022.] I think little SingleH here is coming to a calm, slow, natural conclusion. I think little SingleH here is becoming too much of a so-called “normie” to write like themselves anymore, or at least that of them you’ve come to know. I think little SingleH here is getting too much of a life, and I think that if left to continue on present course, the writing produced by this profile will increasingly lean towards the modern-day Hideaki Anno-style preaching and condescension. The writing output of an individual who was depressed and hyper-relatable at one point, but who got out of it and who, as a result, became out-of-touch and…I don’t know…old, for lack of a better term? Granted, I definitely continue to be depressed out of my fucking mind—no worries there, plus the fucking alcohol—but I’m still living WAY too much. I’m making too many real friends; I’m having to much success at work; I’m making too many connections; I’m having too much casual sex; I’m fucking around with things and aspects of people and society that, barely a few years ago, I couldn’t have ever possibly imagined. I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore, and as of the day in which I’m writing this, I hugged someone. A friend. Having a real, in-the-flesh “friend” is already fucking bizarre enough, but that I would be able to platonically and emotionally hug her??? Where the fuck am I? WHO the fuck am I??? She asked if I needed a hug during my lunch, and I just straight-up took it as a joke. When I was walking away to clock back in, I turned around and said, “You would hug me?” And she just laughed. Later, when I was getting ready to leave, she tells me to “check back in” with her before I left, and I was like, “Okay…? Am I in trouble?” To which the answer was no. She just wanted to have another impromptu therapy session to make sure I wasn’t collapsing completely, but at the end, I said, “Also, I take it back from earlier. Can I have a hug?” She puts on this big, stupid smile, and then we hugged, for like, a while. These past few nights I’ve been religiously watching this trash, this gutter filth, perhaps the literal polar opposite of Bocchi the Rock!. It’s just twenty-year-olds, I mean totally teenage actors engagingly in endless sex and drugs. Sheer trash. Euphoria on HBO. But I like watching it at, I don’t know, what time is it? 3:37am? And the reason I do so is the same reasoning I gave for enjoying Kanojo, Okrishimasu. “I love allowing myself to get invested in trash like this just so it can frustrate me and force my cold, dead, icy heart to feel literally anything other than passivity and dejection.” And the scene I watched just a second ago, of this character texting her boyfriend while she was drunk? The manner in which her phone autocorrected certain typos and not others? That was EACTLY me. That scene, in this fucking braindead retard schlock teen melodrama, was without dialogue or music, deeply relatable. Ask any of these poor motherfuckers who talk to me via Discord regularly and who know how I type when I’m drunk, because that shit was precise. However, as much as I respect Bocchi the Rock!, and as little as I respect Euphoria, I’m fairly certain I can’t say anything like that about the former. This isn’t a disconnect exclusive to cute girl anime either. Like, if I were to throw on K-On!, a show to which this has seen much comparison, then I don’t think I would be saying this about any of their particular interactions. I don’t think I could see any of their particular moments and memories and think anything to the effect of, “I can’t see real girls doing this.” Because that was always the appeal of K-On! in the first place, their eccentricity almost paradoxically juxtaposed with the series’ realism. Maybe it was Yamada Naoko’s direction, maybe it was the super naturalistic color design, maybe it was something I can’t even put into words. But whatever it was, K-On! had it, and Bocchi the Rock! doesn’t. You want a show about four or five cute moe girls with multicolored hair, multicolored eyes, and multicolored personalities? Because the anime community has a fucking ocean of options for you to choose from in that department. Some might argue a landfill to be a much more fitting analogy though, because, after all, quantity doesn’t always equal quality. There’s a lot of unexceptional sewage that flows through every season and every genre of anime, and Bocchi the Rock! is miles above any of that, but I’m quite positive we are not witnessing a modern classic in the making. The visual direction is impressive outright—no surprise considering the director’s association with Shingo Natsume, one of the industry’s currently active creative geniuses—but while it may be just enough to carry the series’ more unexceptional elements, it’s nowhere near enough to elevate it…which is kind of a picky distinction to make, but a distinction I would argue is more than a little necessary considering the wildly high mean score Bocchi the Rock! boasts as of time of writing. I apologize for failing to escape comparison, but keep in mind that from where I’m standing, you people started it, not me. You people were the ones talking about “the K-On! of our generation,” not me, and when I read proclamations such as these, I have certain expectations in mind, because the last time I heard such proclamations was in winter of 2018. A Place Further Than The Universe was a special anime. It had powerful performances, fantastic direction, a satisfying sense of progression and growth, and a heartrending emotional arc; it had a more-or-less high-quality production, a plethora of fantastic insert songs, and simply beautiful imagery. It at the same time, however, failed to hit that level of sheer believability and down-to-Earth realism that a K-On!-class masterpiece would, and if you ask me, Bocchi the Rock! falls even shorter. “Wow, my latest video already has so many comments. [giggles] I’ve been racking up the views lately, too, and people are telling me I’m good… Yeah, maybe it’s okay if I can’t handle real life? There are tons of people cheering for me online!” There’s a lot of blatantly obvious reasons why I, of all fucking people, would be compelled to call this series and specifically this character “relatable,” but relating to her isn’t my problem. My problem is believing in her. In winter of 2018, some anons on /a/ were criticizing a scene in A Place Further Than The Universe which they felt to have been a shameless rip-off of a scene from K-On!, and whether or not I agreed with their cynical assessment or not, I couldn’t help but entertain the comparison. The scene was in one of the earlier episodes, when the girls were training and first spending a night together outdoors, sleeping in a tent. As they laid back and tried to sleep, they kept each other awake with silly small-talk and dumb jokes, and this thread on /a/ had completely convinced themselves that the scene was attempting to directly mimic the scene from the Kyoto trip in K-On!, the scene after the pillow fight where Ritsu keeps trying to prod at Mio, scare her, and make Yui and Mugi laugh. If you read a text summary of both those scenes, they would seem to be fundamentally identical, but when you actually sit down and watch them, one feels ever so slightly fake (or perhaps “forced” is a better word), while the other feels deeply real. Bocchi the Rock! has cute character designs and good voice acting; it has a surprisingly consistent and well-balanced production considering the studio behind it; it has a clear sense of inspiration and emotion spearheaded by an up-and-coming director who clearly learned all the right lessons from mentors past; and it has dialogue, monologue, and audiovisual expression that will 100% make you feel at times emotional, be it for a second, a minute, or a while. It does not, however, have a scene of Tainaka Ritsu saying goofy shit to keep her best friends from fallin…

CGDCT is honestly a weird one. It’s a subgenre of Slice of Life (at least that’s how I see it) where we have a cast of girls doing what they feel like, showing crazy shit if any like Nichijou, or simply just chilling like Yuru Camp. I personally viewed it as a hit-or-miss. Despite the rather intriguing concepts any CGDCT could bring, they tend to be on the questionable side. It’s not that I hate it, I just think a lot of those shows may have certain problems regarding how they use their characters and/or how they direct their stories. Bocchi the Rock is… um… a special one. And not in a way that makes it good or even decent, however. Yes, I absolutely hate this series with a capital H. It’s not enticing or even funny at the very slightest. Before we get to me reviewing the series, same disclaimers as always: All of these are 100% opinion-based. What you’ll see is very subjective and therefore, shouldn’t be taken seriously. I have no problems with anyone liking the series. If you’re a fan of the series, feel free to share why you think it’s better than what I said. Alright, let’s get to it. Hitori Gotoh, better known as Bocchi as the title says it, is a shy girl who plays guitar and wants to be part of a band. But due to a lack of friends, she practices 6 hours daily until being skilled and thus, uploading videos of her playing guitar. Afterward, Nijika, a drummer in Kessoku Band, reached out for Bocchi and changed her life a bit. I won’t lie, this series probably has the most unique ideas of any CGDCT. It shows that not only do the main girls show funny things obviously but it also explores more emotion to character growth. BTR possibly even has the most direction. But sadly, all those engaging elements are reduced to nothingness when the show “speaks for itself”. And while the direction is big, it might as well be used to excuse the show’s pathetic writing and comedy. Now you may wonder, what exactly is a good CGDCT (or good SoL)? Well personally, a good CGDCT/SoL is when it expresses more character growth as I mentioned in the good concepts in BTR talk earlier as well as maintaining proper directing. BTR has… none of that… And to think it uses all of its concepts just to show incredibly janky storytelling and stale comedy, I highly doubt it gets any better. The biggest issue I see in the series is it takes ALL OF IT, and I mean all of it WAY too seriously. It doesn’t even show how relatability works. It overblows character quirks to the point where it’s hard to sit through. A “shy” girl that heavily overreacts just because? Really? I don’t know where to begin with this. And if the story reduces any sort of potential the show has, that’s not the end of it. The characters are the sole reasons why I can’t enjoy any of this whatsoever. Let’s talk about the basics first. Bocchi is the shy guitarist as we already talked about it. Nijika is the cheerful drummer. Kita is also cheerful but is a guitarist and a singer. She’s in charge of the guitar and vocals of Kessoku Band. Ryo is the grass-eating bassist. So again, great character concepts but the cast is reduced to non-existent growth. The main cast is nothing but irritating idiots who have a poor representation of “being relatable”. I’m not saying that not being relatable makes a mediocre or subpar character by any means, there are several other ways to make an interesting/enjoyable character. But the main cast of BTR still doesn’t even come close to that. Bocchi herself is one of the biggest punchbags I’ve ever seen. She has a very pathetic excuse for being “shy”. Going haywire for a lot of the episodes doesn’t exactly show what being shy is at all. It just makes you an annoying bitch. And not only that, her dynamics with any of the characters are severely bland and inconsistent. Nijika and Kita, while not as punchable, are also irritating and lack any decent growth. For Ryo’s case… This is kinda hard for me to explain because I don’t always find which pile of horseshit smells the nicest. Ryo’s not a good character either. And even with her “best scenes”, a basic rom-com side character from a basic rom-com has more growth to show. But I guess she’s a little better than the rest of the cast because her gimmick consists of her eating grass… I don’t know, I still think she’s one-dimensional. And on the topic of one-dimensional, the side cast also lacks a single bit of character and shows next-to-zero significant features. They might as well become budget NPCs. As shitty as the series is, I think we can all agree that the miscellaneous parts are amazing. The art style, while simple in the form of anime art, is truly multi-dimensional. Showing more expressions while maintaining balanced colors to fit with the series’ premise. Very dynamic and, sadly, the only funny part of the show. The music, whether it’s the OP, ED, or the rest of the soundtracks, is excellent as well. A big shoutout to Kessoku Band IRL! As for the voice acting, it’s great. It’s nice to see and hear more appreciation for the underappreciated VAs. My personal favorite voice performance of the show is Saku Mizuno as Ryo. So let’s wrap this up. Every concept is interesting but the story is incredibly all over the place to the degree of butchering any significance involved and the characters are insufferable rats. The art, music, and voice acting don’t even make up for the janky-ass storytelling but they are great. I’m deeply sorry if you read all of this but in my view, it’s not even funny. It’s overly cliched and it really ruins any point it is, whether it’s in minimum or maximum context. But hey, all of what I said is subjective. It isn’t my job to manipulate you on how to watch anime. If you disagree with me, that’s nice! If you adore everything about Bocchi to the core, that’s nice as well! All of you are always entitled to your own opinions. But… If you made it this far, at least you have my two cents. Thanks for reading.

In my humble opinion the show is very boring. It feels like k-on but the cast and especially the female lead is not likeable. The fmc is boring and there's no character development at all (or barely). It just feels like wasted potential. The music was nice and it felt refreshing having new rock being featured as the main theme. The art style was nice but there wasn't anything special to it same can be said for the animation. This show has an interesting premise but the pacing is quite slow. and the whole shy girl trope that can't properly express herself is overused and repetitive.

Bocchi the Rock is a basic, boring slice of life. It baffles me how it has received such high reviews with nothing to show for it. Don’t get me wrong, if you enjoy shows like K-ON, you’ll definitely have a good time with this show, but for anyone else, this show is nothing special. Plot (6/10): This show follows Bocchi, a socially anxious musically talented teen, as she comes out of her shell and finally realizes her dream of joining a band. If you’re watching this show for the plot, then you’re watching the wrong show. Don’t expect anything gripping or emotional to happen because it won’t. The plot is at it’s best when it’s not taking itself seriously. The jokes are pretty decent, especially the jabs at Bocchi. The band performances are also pretty enjoyable. However, whenever the show tries to get emotional, the scene falls flat and puts you to sleep faster than horse tranquilizer. Luckily, this isn’t very common. If you enjoyed watching K-ON, you’ll love it. If you’re like me and absolutely despise the show, it’s actually a decent step up, but still not very good. Characters (2/10): My biggest problem with this show is the characters. They are all extremely 1 dimensional and difficult to get attached to. The worst offender is Bocchi. She is incredibly annoying. Her over the top social anxiety is horrendous to watch. I feel absolutely no empathy towards her and have no idea why her friends stick by her when she’s this much of an annoyance. Her “growth” in the show is pretty unearned as she never actually feels like a real human. She’s just a caricature of what a socially anxious person is cranked up to 11. There is one good scene of her in one of the band performances, but other than that she just pisses me off. The other characters are much less egregious, but still not great. They all have 1 dimensional personalities and never feel like real humans. A lot of the shows problems with trying emotional scenes stem from the fact that none of the characters have real personalities. All of the characters are just a list of 2 unchanging traits. The only reason characters aren’t a 0/10 is because Ryou and Kita can be decently funny. The characters in this show would be better suited for a pure comedy where all they do is gag on how terrible Bocchi is. Music (9/10): The music is where the show actually shines all of the songs are very solid and a joy to listen to. I would recommend that you listen to the show’s playlist instead of the show, because it’s a shame that a lot of these bangers are stuck being a part of such a mid show. Art and Animation (8/10): Very very good, but nothing that will knock your socks off. Some of the rotoscoping is janky, but the cleverly implemented live action shots make up for it. Overall (6/10): I enjoyed this more than I thought I would considering I hate slice of life’s, but at the end of the day this is still not a very good show. It’s humour is definitely enjoyable at some points and the performances are phenomenal, but the characters and plot elements drag this show down for me. I’m happy for you if you found this show to be fun, but this isn’t up my alley whatsoever. I don’t understand the praise this show is getting – it is nowhere near a top 20 anime, not even top 200. I really wanted to like this show, but I just couldn’t do it. This isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s definitely worthwhile if you just want to turn your brain off. It’s like Demon Slayer in the sense that as soon as you start thinking about what’s going on your enjoyment plummets. I wish all Bocchi enjoyers a pleasant evening. Tldr; if you like K-ON you will like this, and if you like shows with deep storytelling and characters you will hate it.

“Hey, have you seen Chainsaw Man yet? That shit’s hype!” “Huh? What’s Chainsaw Man??” “..What? It’s literally the hottest and best anime this season!” “Hm. Never heard. Were you perhaps referring to Bocchi the Rock?” The queen is dead? What are you talking about, it looks like Bocchi the Rock is alive and doing well. Well, better than well. It’s the best, most creative, most funny, most relatable, and most heartwarming anime of this season. “B-but it’s a music!!! Isn’t it just another K-ON?” That’s where you’re wrong. Bocchi the Rock is FAR from being the next K-On. Bocchi is its own show, a show taking on new ideas and innovating some of the most creative visuals and productions of any anime I’ve watched. K-On was about their band going through high school together as a team, while Bocchi the Rock explores each individual character as they work together to help their band grow. Bocchi the Rock is a show about growing and learning to be the best version of yourself. Social anxiety is not a light topic. It’s a disorder that affects your daily lives in conversations, tasks, relationships, and even self-confidence. A heavy topic such as this, in my opinion, was not done very well by Komi-san. While I’m aware Komi is a comedy centred around Komi’s “cute” social awkwardness, I think Bocchi did a finer job at showing how to show awareness of social anxiety and the thoughts that may go through a lot of people’s head, while still maintaining god tier levels of comedy, which I think is even funnier than Komi. Now, what makes the comedy so special? What makes comedy funny? Comedy is never an objective subject. You may find the Minion memes your grandma posts the most unfunny thing you’ve seen, but maybe other people find it hilarious (extra fries, am I right?). The same goes towards comedy shows. Some may find it funny, some can find it cringe, some just find mild amusement. However, it feels like Bocchi is a laughing medicine. Bocchi’s social awkwardness always leads to sad and sometimes cringe moments, or Bocchi overthinks things and other awkward moments happen. Usually, that is a huge turn off for many people, but CloverWorks really put effort into the comedy. Instead of the sad and cringey scenes that we would usually see, the anime uses visual gags and phenomenal voice acting to make it the funniest thing you’ve seen. The timings are on point, the voice acting is believable, and you won’t feel an ounce of cringe. Her overthinking is absolutely ridiculous and absurd which makes it so funny (the attention-whore monster!) with some of the best animations ever produced by CloverWorks, with different camera angles, metaphors, visual gags like explosions, all that, and to top it off, many references to different anime including Evangelion, Dragon Ball, and so much more it’s uncountable. The comedy never went stale, never in this show have I thought “Hm. They could’ve made this comedic scene a little funnier, it wasn’t that funny and they should’ve added something to get a laugh out of me”. You can see that the animators don’t see this as a half-assed project, they are putting their hearts and souls into this beautiful anime. Now, what’s the most important part of an anime? Animation, of course. It’s obvious. As I have previously mentioned, Bocchi the Rock gives some of the best animations from this year with animation that is smooth and expressive. Heck, this makes Chainsaw Man look like Chainsaw Boy. “Should I watch it then?” Yes. “But what if I don’t like it?” If you’re not interested, drop it and move on with your life. Nobody is forcing you to watch Bocchi (though you should). “I don’t have time, I won’t watch it.” Watching anime isn’t a chore, if you have free time and you feel like watching some anime, Bocchi is a great show to pass the time and forget all your worries. Besides, anime is a hobby. “The plot doesn’t exist. It’s just girls forming a band and that’s it.” Not true. Bocchi the Rock also tells the story of how Bocchi grows through her failures and learning to get through the world. She really is trying her best and the story puts an emphasis on how hard she’s trying to improve. Sure, it has many Cute Girls Doing Cute Things elements, but at its core, Bocchi the Rock is a down-to-earth and moving show. Of course, characters are a vital part in anime. One bad character who annoys you or is written poorly can impact your opinion on the whole anime. Most authors have to spend a lot of time thinking about their characters. Are they likeable? Are their designs memorable/cute? Do they actually have a personality? As you may notice, many shows lack these qualities, which leads to a negative view on the show overall. Even if the plot is good, why would you want to watch it if it has annoying and dumb characters? (see Munou na Nana) Bocchi the Rock seems to be aware of this, as the characters are all likeable, well-written, and have personalities. Each character’s character designs are iconic and you will surely recognize their unique designs just from the colours of their hair. Voice actresses fit and do excellent jobs. Even characters that don’t show up much (PA-san) are pretty loved by the community. Now, I’m going to go deeper into each of the major characters. Expect a long one. Hitori, aka Bocchi, is your typical slice-of-life protagonist who isn’t interesting and is super bland. “Haha, you must be joking!” Yes, I am. Bocchi has to be one of the best characters from this year. She is funny, relatable, cute, and all of the good qualities of a character. What makes Hitori so special is her social anxiety. I know, we’ve seen it so much like in Watamote (another great one), Komi-san, Welcome to the NHK, HitoriBocchi, MMO Junkie, the list goes on. While I haven’t seen the last 3 shows and I don’t want to assume things, I know that Bocchi has to be one of the best socially anxious protagonists ever. Not only because she gets into hilarious situations where she reacts amazingly, or how she overthinks situations and somehow predicts her life as a miserable adult, but how she isn’t trying to be better in some half-assed way (“I’m going to improve myself!” *does one nice thing and calls it a day). We can see Bocchi genuinely dislikes her social anxiety and is trying to overcome it. Like she said, there is a difference between the loner (Ryo) and the lonely (Bocchi). Let me do a little explanation on that. Ryo is the loner. She enjoys being alone and has no problem with it. She finds fun in being by herself without anybody around her. While of course enjoying spending time with others, she doesn’t feel lonely by herself. Bocchi is the lonely. She still likes being alone but constantly wants to be with others. She feels lonely without the company of others and often feels lonely by herself. Bocchi usually has more fun doing things with other people. There is a giant misconception that Bocchi is a hardcore introvert. Bocchi is NOT an introvert, I believe she is an extrovert that has social anxiety. Extroverts aren’t always loud and outgoing, they prefer spending time with other people and tend to share their thoughts more. Bocchi is, in my opinion, what I described. Introverts get motivation by themselves while extroverts get motivation with others. As we can see in the anime, Bocchi feels drained and wasted alone but feels happy and comforted with her band members. Nijika is an excellent character. At first, she seems to be a Ritsu Tainaka clone (tomboy drummer) whose entire purpose is to just be there. Nijika looked like she had no importance and was just a character tossed to the side. Boy, I was so wrong. Nikia is an amazing and inspiring character who took me by surprise. Nijika is the group’s motivator, someone who is able to support others while going through her own struggles. All I can really say about her now is, yay! Nijika! Oh and also, she has one of the best character animation scenes where she says “it’s a secret!”. I a…

Beginning from a chance encounter in a park between Hitori Gotoh and Nijika and continuing from there, Bocchi the Rock’s story follows the slice-of-life format like a blueprint. There are occasional dramatic moments, but for the most part episodes keep themselves grounded in the peaceful, mundane reality of every-day life, dealing with small-scale plots like designing t-shirts for the band to wear, or visiting the beach for the day. The occasional dramatic moments come in the form of the live performances, where the band members get together to play an original song on stage. Filling the gap between these live performances are the slice-of-life segments. The dialogue that dominates the slice-of-life portions is a forced sort of banter between the band-mates that relies on a lot of nonsensical statements and pointing out the nonsense. This is a good third of what comprises the show. There are also occasional moments of reflection from our main character Bocchi, giving her perspective on the events on screen, among other topics relating to social anxiety. The remaining three members of the rock band Bocchi’s in are Nijika Ijichi the drummer, Ryou Yamada the bassist, and lead singer Ikuyo Kita. Nijika is an upbeat, ordinary girl whose sister runs the club that their band practices at. She’s the one pointing out the obvious nonsense. These are usually comments about Bocchi, or contradictions to some absurdity by Ryou. Ryou’s traits are that she is quiet and has a very high opinion of herself. Her over-confidence is meant to be funny, is mostly inoffensive, and can be obnoxious. Kita is what introverts think an extrovert is. Bocchi is very self-conscious and anxious to the point of being irritating. She’s an intriguing person on her own, but her personality becomes noticably more one-note when the other three members of the band are in the picture. The bulk of Bocchi’s reactions consist of panicking over doing anything concerned with anyone. These portions where Bocchi agonizes over tasks involving basic human interaction lie in an awkward middle ground. They are not short enough to be funny and not deep enough to be interesting. There are moments where it is hinted that there is more than meets the eye with some of them, but for the most part, Nijika, Ryou and Kita all operate within the limits of their narrowly defined personalities. They’re fine individually, but any originality vanishes as soon as they get together. The show fares better when its focus is on Bocchi, but these moments aren’t as common as you would imagine. Even when Bocchi is in the spotlight, these moments aren’t enough to carry the deadweight hanging from the group sections, since the show opts to present lighthearted and inconsequential plot-lines that treat Bocchi’s problems as a joke, rather than tackling Bocchi’s problems with any relevant seriousness. This is a blessing in a way, since it makes the show easy to watch, but there’s never anything substantive being said that rises beyond the level of a truism. For as bad as CloverWorks usually are, they’ve done a good job at fleshing out the source material. The concert scenes in particular do a very good job of capturing the energy and magnitude of a live performance. There are also some great scenes of experimentation and many different uses of many different artistic mediums that liven things up, though the experimental nature of these scenes is undercut by how ordinary the rest of the show looks. Bocchi’s story is formulaic, the dialogue between the group members isn’t the best, and it isn’t that funny. However, within the limits of the slice-of-life genre it pushes the envelope, and the characters naturally grow on you. Still, it’s an average show. The reason it’s been hyped up is because Bocchi’s social anxiety is relatable to the chronically online anime community who don’t know enough to see it as shallow. If you’re into music it might have something.

“If I were to write a review for Bocchi the Rock, I would become an upvote seeking monster! Like my review!” - Hitori “Bocchi” Gotou. Bocchi the Rock is a master class of visual comedy. At first glance, this show looks like a fairly typical CGDCT comedy, without much of a budget at its disposal. Yet CloverWorks and the BtR team scraped together its resources and went absolutely sicko mode, turning it into something truly special. It is easily a contender for Anime of the Year and one of the greatest anime comedies of all time. Bocchi the Rock is about making social anxiety funny. Some of you might say, “Yuni, isn’t social anxiety a serious topic? Lots of people suffer from it, isn’t turning it into a joke kind of offensive?” To that I say “haha don’t worry, laughing about ourselves is our specialty.” A big part of Bocchi the Rock’s charm comes from how the main character, Hitori Gotou (nicknamed Bocchi) is a “she’s just like me fr” character. She is immensely relatable to us social outcasts, and we get a really good look at her mentality as most of the show’s script is her inner monologues. Despite focusing so much on the main character, the show is not a one trick pony. The comedy isn’t reliant on being relatable and is presented in a way that even extroverted social butterflies can understand and laugh at. The supporting cast of characters are equally charming and contribute to the comedy in their own special ways, meaning the show isn’t being carried on one character’s back. Not all of Bocchi’s relatability is confined to people with social anxiety either. For example, there is a scene about cringing at one’s own past actions. We’ve all done cringeworthy things that our brain constantly reminds us about when we’re trying to sleep, right? Saying that one cringey thing to a crush, waving back at someone who was waving at the person behind you, writing a review on MyAnimeList, we’ve all done highly regrettable things. The joke is then executed with energetic and creative visuals, crisp and clean animation, as well as fantastic voice acting performances. Bocchi the Rock isn’t afraid to completely change its animation style to emphasize its jokes. You could almost argue adding an Avant Garde tag to this show with how often it will utilize art style changes, live action, strange psychological glitchy effects, and other tricks to support its weird and wacky comedy. They are willing to reject high quality animation and return to MS Paint just cause they can. Perhaps its strongest trick is actually one of its simplest; character facial expressions. What makes this trick work so well in Bocchi the Rock is that not only are the facial expressions incredibly lively and creative, but the low budget actually helps in making them funnier. Deformed face puddles actually look better with less detail and purposefully scuffed. They can then focus on animating those face puddles in humorous ways. Whenever Bocchi is reduced to a pile of incoherent scribbles it makes her freak outs that much more entertaining. This is truly how you play things out with the hand you’ve been dealt. The voice actors did a splendid job in supporting the wacky shenanigans on screen. Bocchi’s voice makes her sound straight up deranged or even insane at times, the raspiness of her voice during her anxiety attacks breathes so much life into the jokes. A return to the cast of characters, the other main characters are surprisingly lovable and held their own in the spotlight. First things first, the nod to Asian Kung Fu Generation in the cast’s names is cute. As characters, the cast may be quite simple but each of them feel integral to the group’s dynamic. Ryou is probably the most standout of the other main characters, as Nijika and Kita are fairly typical straight man and extrovert characters respectively. Ryou’s aloof nature makes her seem constantly out of it, which makes her a bit unpredictable. She is silly but oddly quick witted, and comes up with a lot of weird shit to help out the band. Her occasional meta commentary helps add some spice to the comedy routine, such as when she talks about characters jumping in anime openings. Nijika and Kita, while being more straight forward characters, act as a very good reprieve and balance for Bocchi and Ryou’s more chaotic antics. Nijika is the only one who truly has a head on her shoulders, many jokes are set up by her suggesting something or announcing something, and then the rest of the cast proceeds to spread chaos. Kita is also a bit of a weirdo, but is overall probably the least interesting of the bunch. She still fulfills her role well and acts like a bright light that Bocchi ends up chasing after in terms of social adeptness. Behind all the jokes, Bocchi the Rock does tell a simple but heartfelt story about coming out of one’s shell and finding a place to belong. It’s hard not to root for Bocchi as she constantly tries her best to shed her awkward self, with varying degrees of success. Her friends are patient with her and accept her for who she is, even if they don’t necessarily understand her circumstances. They are truly a great group of friends. Bocchi’s development is slow and often at times it feels like she doesn’t change at all, but that’s because she is often subject to completely new experiences one after the other which causes her to panic and reset a bit. Even so, the change is there, and is especially present in her interactions with her friends and her performances. What makes Bocchi’s development feel so satisfying is that it exhausts the shit out of her, and she is also extremely happy with herself whenever she feels like she improved. Part of the social anxiety experience is that you overthink everything, making otherwise simple things a mentally exhausting exercise. Bocchi wanting to go home and sleep after seemingly minor events is super in character because for her, it was a major event. It’s these simple and subtle quirks that truly make this show standout from the other “haha shy girl try to do something” comedies like Komi-san, who borderline fetishize social anxiety as something exotic and cool. By the way, this is a music anime. Much like most music anime nowadays, the musical elements mainly serve as a backdrop for the comedy and story. However, there is enough musical cache in the writing to give musicians an upgraded experience, even when it’s very minor. For example, when Bocchi starts teaching Kita how to play guitar, the script goes out of its way to make Kita complain about the F chord. For people who never played a guitar before, this scene would just gloss over their heads as something meaningless, but for people who play guitar it’s hard not to smirk at this scene. The F chord is infamous for having an obnoxious finger placement, and someone complaining about it in a music anime was something I wanted to see for the longest time, and Bocchi the Rock delivered. Truly a masterpiece for the ages! There isn’t much else you can say about Bocchi the Rock in a review. Perhaps a minor gripe with the comedy would be how the joke where Bocchi goes “IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN, MY SOCIAL ANXIETY WOULD MAKE ME DO THIS” is used quite repetitively. However, even though the setup is used multiple times, the punchline ends up being different enough to combat the staleness. It is a fairly ignorable flaw if you watched the show while it was airing, but it can easily feel like a much bigger deal if you binge the show. Also, even though we see Bocchi’s development progress quite naturally, the development of other characters, predominantly Kita and her guitar playing, either happens quite fast and mostly off screen or they just don’t get any development. As much as I praised the show for not being a one trick pony, it is still not a more balanced character experience like K-On. It was simply never intended to be one. Bocchi also has moments where she acts extremely cringey, which may put off some viewers, but these mom…